Mirror the players ship and make this the ship player meet in mission. Also copy the players AI fleet (if any) and player-fleet-members as well as their AI fleets (if any) ships.
Then you devs wouldn't have to worry about balancing. Players would get to test their builds and see how they perform from outside. Players would always be sure what to encounter in combat missions.
Since we can capture 5th rate NPC ships, this mirror thing should only be on mission post-5th rate.

Another game that uses Unity. Very good but very buggy
Personally ive been waiting for something like this for 10 years or so, ever since i started playing eve online and didnt have the ability to land on planets.

not to mention the players using the post-battle invis/speed buff when they are roaming hostile waters, attacking low rate npc ship, hiding in battle, then popping out on demand, invisible and with speed buff...... please... its terrible guys, who came up with this? didnt you think players would use it to attack? i assume its a mechanic that was put in place to decrease the ganking, but it has the exact opposite effect

that we could be without all these timers and counters. not possible to join battles after a certain time, being invisible and timers when undocking, leaving battle. i think they are dang annoying. not realistic at all, for me its killing gameplay tbh.
also, people is bending the mechanics, abusing them for offensive gain.

• What is a Privateer?
• The 'Cinque Ports' - The rise of the merchant navy/privateer
• The 16th and 17th Centuries - Privateering's Golden Era
• Privateers & Pirates: Is there really a difference?
• French Corsairs
http://bbprivateer.ca/?q=book/export/html/11

it is not sufficient to just respond: "wrong ship" and similar. you must also provide the correct answer. also thread is getting derailed, just pm with info on correct ship, i cant seem to find anything

OT:
vasa OP? lol
"As Vasa passed under the lee of the bluffs to the south (what is now Södermalm), a gust of wind filled her sails, and she heeled suddenly to port. The sheets were cast off, and the ship slowly righted herself as the gust passed. At Tegelviken, where there is a gap in the bluffs, an even stronger gust again forced the ship onto its port side, this time pushing the open lower gunports under the surface, allowing water to rush in onto the lower gundeck. The water building up on the deck quickly exceeded the ship's minimal ability to right itself, and water continued to pour in until it ran down into the hold; the ship quickly sank to a depth of 32 m (105 ft) only 120 m (390 ft) from shore. Survivors clung to debris or the upper masts, which were still above the surface, to save themselves, and many nearby boats rushed to their aid, but despite these efforts and the short distance to land, 30 people perished with the ship, according to reports. Vasa sank in full view of a crowd of hundreds, if not thousands, of mostly ordinary Stockholmers who had come to see the great ship set sail. The crowd included foreign ambassadors, in effect spies of Gustavus Adolphus' allies and enemies, who also witnessed the catastrophe."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)
why is it even in game? the hull was fail constructed, it didnt even make its maiden voyage x)